The Cross Timbers ecoregion are parallel strips of forest region that extend from Oklahoma southward to Central Texas between the ninety-sixth and ninety-ninth meridians and form a marked contrast to the prairies of the state.
The eastern area is a band of blackjack and post oak, separates the region of Black Prairies on the east from the Grand Prairies on the west and form a narrow band of woodland which grow along the Red River. This ecoregion expands south and west but disappears as it approaches the Brazos River near Waco. The altitude of this ecoregion is slightly higher than the surrounding prairies.
The soil of the eastern area differs from that of the western area in that the eastern Cross Timbers is more fertile and therefore produces larger trees and a wider variety of trees and shrubs. In pioneer times the large band of timber was a famous landmark and proved a formidable obstacle to travelers because of the density of growth.
Cross Timbers oaks are used for firewood, railroad ties, and poles, but the most important function of the timber belt is preserving water. The timber prevents rain water from immediately running off the surface and causes much of it to soak into sand that supplies artesian water for hundreds of wells to the east and south of the Cross Timbers. The region is well adapted for truck farming, with cotton and corn also being grown.
The Wichita lived in East Texas, hunted and used the wooded areas of the Cross Timbers region. The Wichita were descendants of the
Sons of Diklah who had departed from the original camp of Diklah which was located not far from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and from there then moved south along the Mississippi River. Later these sons of Diklah traveled west across the Red River and into the forested area now known as East Texas.
Normally, the Cross Timbers served as a dividing line between the the Wichita of East Texas and those of the Plains Indian tribes to the west. Still, several indigenous people of the Plains tribes used the Cross Timbers as a north-south pathway that afforded a path that kept them in secrecy from their enemies who lived in the East Texas forests. At times, these two nations of people would clash.
The Plains Indians were descendants of the
Uto-Aztecan Cultures whose homeland was primarily in the lands within the Colorado Plateau. Still, some of their descendants, including those of the Comanche tribes began to migrate east into Texas and came to use and hunt in the Cross Timbers area. Some time later the Comanche, as they moved further east, began making raids into and to the east of the Cross Timbers where they would clash with the Algonquin tribes already living there.
Steps Afoot
Steps Afield
The Appendixes
Cedar Hill State Park (32.621771, -96.979017)
Cleburn State Park (32.266556, -97.55685)
Cooper Lake State Park Doctors Creek (33.348846, -95.663685)
Cooper Lake State Park Sulphur (33.287808, -95.657828)
Eisenhower State Park (33.810367, -96.599880)
Fairfield Lake State Park (31.765251, -96.073325)
Lake Mineral Well State Park (32.812581, -98.043274)
Lake Tawakoni State Park (32.841877, -95.993558)
Lake Mineral Wells
Lake Whitney State Park
Meridian State Park (31927534., -97.362040)
Mother Neff State Park (31.332674 , -97.464545)
Purtis Creek State Park (32.3537547, -95.993444)
Ray Roberts Lake State Park, Johnson Branch (33.429803, -97.056608)
Ray Roberts Lake State Park, Isle Du Bois (33.365617, -97.011780)
